About the Sepsis programme

“THINK SEPSIS” is a Health Education England programme aimed at improving the diagnosis and management of those with sepsis.

123,000 cases of sepsis occur in England each year with approximately 37,000 deaths annually: this is more than breast, bowel and prostate cancers combined. Prompt recognition of sepsis and rapid intervention will help reduce the number of deaths occurring annually.

The learning materials that are available on this website support the early identification and management of sepsis.

This website has a film and a wide range of learning materials for primary care, secondary care and paediatrics.

For more information on HEE’s work on sepsis please visit our website.

THINK SEPSIS: The identification and management of Sepsis in Primary Care

Identifying and managing sepsis in primary care is an important measure in reducing deaths.

70% of sepsis cases develop within primary care. This e-learning module addresses the high risk areas for the early identification and management of sepsis. The introductory overview first session is aimed at all clinical staff that work in primary care. The remaining sessions on diagnosing sepsis in adults, children, elderly and complex issues such as maternity and neutropenia are primarily aimed at General Practitioners.

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has developed a sepsis toolkit to support GPs and healthcare professionals to identify and manage the condition in patients. This toolkit has been designed to help GPs and other healthcare professionals in primary care tackle this challenge with a series of educational materials, up-to-date guidance and training resources. This also includes 10 Top Tips for GPs & Primary Healthcare Clinicians to support a sepsis aware consultation.

GP Reception training - learning toolkit

Reception staff are commonly the first point of contact for people with acute health needs. Receptionists are not expected to make clinical decisions but need to be aware of which symptoms or presentations might suggest the patient is acutely unwell and requires specific actions. This programme has been developed to support receptionists in recognising specific symptoms that may indicate a deteriorating patient, including sepsis, and how they would consider escalating this to a clinician within the service/practice in which they operate.

THINK SEPSIS: The identification and management of Sepsis in adults

Approving Quality Alliance (AQuA) in partnership with HEE has developed a series of case studies to support the education of sepsis and deterioration in adults.

These case studies have been written in support of the Second Cross-System Sepsis Board Action Plan theme ‘Celebrating achievements and good practice’. The collection is designed to provide healthcare staff with examples of initiatives to improve the recognition of, and response to, sepsis in a range of settings. These case studies promote a collaborative approach, to improve how quickly staff can recognise and treat people with sepsis.

Each case study includes sections on key learning and reflection points, with a clear statement of what the team learned during the course of the improvement project. Measurement data is also provided to help learners identify improvement opportunities in the treatment of people with sepsis and monitor the impact of interventions.

You can access all the case studies in one document – Patient Pathway & System Solutions on Sepsis – All case studies, or you can access specific areas – Primary Care, Secondary Care, Cross sectional network and Diagnostics. Screening tools and observation charts are provided, along with 3 films to support the training.

An innovative interactive film, Project Transform, which helps all healthcare professionals understand the common factors that may delay or hinder the diagnosis and treatment of sepsis, and therefore spot and treat sepsis earlier is also available. Created by the Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in conjunction with The Health Foundation, the UK Sepsis Trust and HEE, the film explores the features that make the diagnosis of sepsis difficult, the use of safety netting and empowering the most junior members of the team. We hope that this film will increase awareness of sepsis and the signs, to help staff diagnose and treat sepsis earlier.

HEE in its report ‘Getting it right – the current state of sepsis education and training for healthcare staff across England’ ( Exec Summary and Full Report), highlights numerous examples of good practice in relation to sepsis education and training. This report lists a number of resources that would be beneficial to healthcare workers requiring training on sepsis, and the audience they are most applicable to. Examples of learning sessions that healthcare workers in secondary care will find useful to address their training needs can be found below:

Assessment and Differential Diagnosis of Sepsis (03_17_01) E-learning for Doctors and nurses in secondary care

Management of the Septic Patient (03_034) E-learning for Doctors in secondary care. Nursing and pharmacy staff in a critical care environment

THINK SEPSIS: Sepsis leadership in Acute Care

A learning resource for executive, non-executive and management level staff in trusts on sepsis, incorporating antimicrobial resistance and stewardship.

This training programme gives specific context for boards to understand the clinical priorities within healthcare and how boards and clinical leaders can work together to deliver of high quality safe care.

The training consists of an e-Learning session to be taken independently, to be followed by a facilitated discussion with board members and clinical staff.

It encourages engagement and debate within a trust, to understand locally what appropriate care looks like and what a board should be doing to deal with specific issues within their trust to maintain good standards on the quick recognition, management and treatment of sepsis and in improving standards of antibiotic prescribing.

THINK SEPSIS: The identification and management of Sepsis in Paediatrics

Sepsis can strike the very old and the very young and as a result children, particularly premature babies and infants, can be more susceptible to developing sepsis.

Everyday somewhere in the UK a child dies from sepsis and cases have shown that a significant number are preventable. Children who survive can be left with debilitating consequences.

Early recognition and intervention can improve outcomes for infants and children with conditions that lead to sepsis. These paediatric resources are designed to ensure that all of us who work with sick children on the front line know how to recognise the clinical features of sepsis at the earlier stages and what to do when we see it.

This film explores the key points to consider in diagnosing and managing sepsis and refers to a patient story, presented by the parents of Maude Watkins who died of sepsis aged three.

Maude’s parents Jason (who is an actor in real life) and Clara share their experience of the traumatic loss of their daughter to sepsis, and provide a useful point of reflection for healthcare professionals on how they can ensure the appropriate and prompt recognition and management of sepsis in children. Their story also provides an important insight and reflection on the impact on families from the death of a family member. The film is an entry point to resources that paediatricians and GPs are recommended to look at relating to sepsis in children.

This case based guide is aimed at supporting clinicians in the recognition and treatment of sepsis in children and involves the stories of three children, their assessment, experiences and treatment.

The learning sessions provide important insights in the recognition and management of sepsis in children. The sessions include the general principles for the safe assessment of a sick child, components of the consultation and assessment, specific factors to be considered in primary and secondary care settings and interpretation of investigations amongst others.

The training materials can be used in face to face teaching sessions or independently as e-learning, in bite sized chunks to allow you to go at your own pace. The training is supported by a course summary sheet and a workbook that can contribute to a learner’s continuous professional development (CPD).

We worked with RCPCH to produce paediatric sepsis podcasts, that are designed as educational resources for health and social care professionals.

They explore what sepsis is, the complexities of how to recognise and manage sepsis, what is different about sepsis in children with complex health conditions and offers real-world advice and guidance on how to manage paediatric sepsis.

Sepsis in learning disabilities

The Learning Disabilities Mortality Review (LeDeR) report published in May 2018 highlighted sepsis as a key contributor to premature mortality, with 11% of deaths being recorded as sepsis related. In response NHS England have undertaken work to improve the sharing of information on people with a learning disability, across health and care settings and have published an ‘action from learning’ report that provides examples of the local changes that have been made to services in response to common themes raised through LeDeR reviews across the country.

A number of freely available resources have been developed for the system that includes:

a sepsis song to raise awareness and improve vigilance to the signs of sepsis amongst people with a learning disability.

a training film that supports health and care professionals, and carers, to spot the softer signs of deterioration in people with a learning disability.

a training film aimed at those who care for people with a learning disability who may not be able to communicate or verbalise how they are feeling.

a film aimed at people with a learning disability who may not be able to communicate or verbalise how they are feeling.

How to access

If you already have an account with e-LfH, then you can enrol on to the Sepsis programme by logging in to the e-LfH Hub, selecting My Account > Enrolment and selecting the programme. You can then access the programme immediately in the My e-Learning section.

Access for NHS healthcare staff in England

The Sepsis programme is also available to NHS healthcare staff via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). Accessing this e-Learning via ESR means that your completions will transfer with you throughout your NHS career.

Care home or hospice staff

To register for the Sepsis programme, select the ‘Register’ button above. Select the option ‘I am a care home or hospice worker’ then enter your care home / hospice name or postcode and select it from the options available in the drop down list. Finally enter your care home / hospice registration code and select ‘Register’. You may need to see your employer to get this code.

If your employer does not have a code, then they need to contact the e-LfH Support Team. The Support Team can either give the employer the registration code or arrange a bulk upload of all staff.

Social care professionals

Access to e-LfH content is available to all social care professionals in England whose employers are registered with the Skills for Care National Minimum Data Set for Social Care (NMDS-SC). Every employer providing NMDS-SC workforce information to Skills for Care has been given a user registration code for their staff. This code enables you to self-register for access to the Care Certificate programme. Please contact your employer for more details about the registration code.

For information about registering your organisation with the NMDS-SC your employer should access www.nmds-sc-online.org.uk or contact the Skills for Care Support Service on 0845 8730129.